


Waiting For You

by Vivelelivre



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Gay Sex, Gen, Graphic Sex, M/M, Multi, Trans Burr, Trans Theodosia, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-22 19:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8297338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vivelelivre/pseuds/Vivelelivre
Summary: Alex and John are waiting for each other. They've never met in this lifetime and yet their hearts understand what their minds cannot: They belong together. When they first meet at Columbia they begin to understand a longstanding truth that fate has been trying to tell them for centuries. 
College AU with a reincarnation twist.





	1. Prologue

“Peggy, give me a hand with this,” said Alex to his dearest friend.

“Yeah, hang on. I found this journal on the sidewalk. It’s practically blank. You should do your writing in here.” She replied on her way to where Alex was kneeling with a ripped plastic bag and a few groceries lying on the pavement.

“Thanks,” Alex smiled. “But you know as well as I do that a journal that small will only last me a day.”

“Then write one sentence every day until it’s full,” she said rolling her eyes.

Alex smirks. “Yeah, yeah. C’mon lets get back to the house, it’s getting dark.”

They picked up and carried the few grocery items they had and walked down the sidewalk together, bumping arms. Alex’s careful eyes scanned the area as they walk.

“You know that you don’t always have to be on guard duty.” Peggy said.

“Last time I wasn’t and you got jumped.” He replied darkly. “I’m never taking that chance again.”

“I’m fine. We’re almost there anyway.”

They rounded a corner and walked into a horrifying scene. A large man dressed all in black was holding an old woman against a wall and rooting through her purse. To her credit, the woman was fighting back admirably, kicking and trying to bite his arm. The man caught a glance of Alex and Peggy and bolted in the other direction just as Alex started to advance on him. 

“Coward!” Alex yelled down the street after him, fists curled and eyes blazing.

Peggy was with the old woman, picking up her purse and comforting her. The woman seemed fine, just a bit shaken up.

“Ma’am are you okay?” Alex turned around to ask.

She wrinkled her brow in confusion and Peggy was quick to ask, “¿Estás bien señora?” 

At this she smiled softly and replied, “Si, gracias. No podía haber tomado nada. Yo no tengo nada.” The woman looked from Peggy and back to Alexander before turning very grave. 

“Usted tiene tiempos difíciles por delante de usted. Una gran grieta se acerca. Va a ser separado después de poco tiempo e izquierda para sobrevivir solos.” She said looking between both of them. Then, she turned to Alex with a small smile and said “Tú. Un niño espera en Carolina del Sur. Él no te conoce y que no lo conozco, pero te espera.”

“Qué?” said Alex, stunned. 

The old woman said no more, but smiled and took her purse from Peggy before walking off. Alex looked at Peggy and she looked concerned, confused, and skeptical.

“Well that was interesting. Do you think she’s okay? It looked like she wasn’t even unfazed.” Peggy said with a bit of anxiety in her tone.

“She seemed okay…” Alex replied. “Wait. Isn’t that Señora Bruja? The woman that lives a few streets over from the house? She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her.” 

“I don’t know. We don’t go that way often.” Peggy said, looking in the direction that the woman had walked. She has disappeared from view already as the night descends on the streets. “It’s getting dark.”

“Yeah… I think it was her.” Alex gazes in the same direction. “Everyone says that she’s a witch.”

“Do you believe that?”

“Without science to back it up, no I do not.” Said Alex in an obvious tone. 

“That could have been a prophecy just for you,” Peggy laughs playfully. “The again I can’t imagine a situation in which one of us would leave the other anytime soon.”

“Never Peggy. I’m always gonna be here.” Alex said sincerely. 

“I know.” She replies with the same sentiment. “I can’t believe you forgot to speak Spanish.” 

“I sometimes forget that not everyone here speaks English.” Alex said. “It’s all we speak around each other and we learn it in school. At the rate we practice we won’t even have accents in a few years.”

“I like my accent. It’s a connection to this place.” Peggy replied, gathering the groceries once more.

“Why on earth would you want a connection to this place? We live in an orphanage with no money, barely an education and no prospects. This is hell on earth.” said Alex with obvious disdain.

“I know it’s not perfect, but it is our home. It’s in our blood.”

“Speak for yourself. Nevis is in my blood, but St. Croix is just a crappy pit stop-“

“On your way to greatness.” Peggy finished. “I know Alex, but you’re only 14. I know that you’re destined for greatness, but you have to give it time.”

“14 years hasn’t been enough time?” Alex grumbled.

This is an old argument, but Peggy still replies, “Give it a few more years Alex.” 

“I often forget that I am only 1 year older than you. You are wise beyond your years Peggy.”

“I know.”

Alex laughed and they continued on their way down the sidewalk. 

 

“WHAT?!” Alex yells, outraged. “What do you mean Peggy’s leaving?!”

The social worker sighed and looked at Peggy, who is clinging to Alex’s arm until it starts to hurt. “You are both in an orphanage. This was always a possibility. A family has found your profile, Peggy, and want to adopt you.” 

“What if I don’t want to be adopted?” Peggy says with a crack in her voice.

“You don’t technically have any rights as a minor here, so I’m afraid that isn’t really your choice.” The social worker replied.

Alex felt his entire body tense as a fire ran through him. Peggy felt it too and she tugged on Alex’s arm until he turned to face her.

“I don’t want to go. I’ve been with you for almost 3 years here and we’ve been doing fine. They can’t just take me away.”

Alex took in her terrified face and felt the fire melt from his body. He took her hand looked at her in earnest.

“You have to go,” he said softly.

“No!” Peggy ripped her hand from his. “How can you say that?! Do you not want me here anymore? This is my home. You are my home. You’re my brother and I am not leaving you here.”

“Yes, you are.” 

“I don’t understand! What are you saying?”

Alex took a deep breath and said, “Think about it. A family in New York wants to adopt you. You get to go to America. They’ll take care of you and you can get a good education and never have to worry about money and live a happy life. This is a dream Peggy and I am not letting you miss it. You deserve this.” 

A tear slid down Peggy’s cheek and she whispered, “No, you deserve this.” 

“Doesn’t matter. This is your chance. America.”

Peggy took several slow, deep breaths and nodded. Alex pulled her into an impossibly tight hug. They stood like this for several moments before the social worker cleared his throat. Alex lifted his head and glared. The social worker fell silent.

Peggy and Alex had one night to cling to each other before Peggy left in the morning. They curled up in Alex’s bed and cried while Alex tried to reassure her through his tears. It was hours before they both fell into a fitful sleep. 

The next morning the social worker came early to collect Peggy. She packed together her few belongings and tried to put on a brave face. Alex moved forward to hug her and she crumbled, clinging to the front of his shirt as her tears left stains on the faded green cotton. 

“It’s gonna be okay. You’re going to do amazing things up in New York. I know it.” Alex said to her.

“I’m gonna write to you. As soon as I get there I’m sitting down to write a letter.” Peggy said, trying to compose herself.

Alex smiled and looked down into her eyes. He lifted his chin up and she nodded, drying her eyes and following suit. 

“You’ll always be my brother.” She said.

“You’ll always be my sister.” 

Peggy smiled and grabbed Alex’s hand for a moment before turning around and walking away. She got into the car and shut the door. The engine started and the social worker drove away. Peggy never looked back. 

Alex watched her go with torn emotions. He was proud of her for being strong, but tears now lingered on his face. Peggy was his lifeline, how would he survive now? It was already a foreign feeling with her not by his side. He could still feel the slight pain in his arm from where Peggy had clung on so tightly only the night before. The car rounded a corner and Alex clutched the journal that Peggy had given him only the night before to his chest. He turned on his heel and walked back inside.

 

In that very same moment a 14-year-old John Laurens woke up to feel a slight tingling in his arm. His hand flew to his chest where a strange feeling was settling. It was sad and pained. 

“That must have been a weird dream.” He said quietly to himself. He quietly got out of bed and crossed the room to his desk where he pulled out his sketchbook and turned to a bank page. He grabbed a pencil and started drawing. A fuzzy image of a face appeared in his mind and he sketches the rough outline and fills in as many details as he can. It’s a rough drawing, but an intriguing image. John stared at it for a few seconds more before looking at his phone and realizing that he had to get ready for school. 

He heaved himself out of bed and stumbled over to a well-stocked wardrobe to get dressed for school. He heard steps on the stairs and straightened up as his father walked into his room.

“John, after school today come straight home. You need to watch Martha when she gets home.” His father said, already dressed for work.

“Yes sir,” John replied stoically. 

His father nodded and walked out, on his way to work where he would be the perfect governor with the perfect family. His secret disdain for his son was unhelpful to his position, so it didn’t exist outside the house. John wasn’t sure why his father never seemed to love him as much as his younger sisters Martha and Mary ad his younger brother James. He had never done anything outright to disappoint him. John held a secret that was sure to get him disowned, but it had never reached his father. He was absolutely sure of that.

No one knew that John was gay. He had never told anyone. It didn’t exactly fit in with his father’s idea of a perfect Christian family and he was terrified that his father would find out. No matter how many times his father brushed him off, John would never stop trying to make him proud. He couldn’t understand why he still cared, but all he wanted was his father’s approval. John shook his head to get rid of these thoughts and got ready for school. 

It was a fairly typical day for John. Get up, go to school, sit through 7 hours of mind numbing classes, get into a fight, hate life. It wasn’t until the final bell of the school day rang that John’s day became interesting.

He walked out of school and turned to walk home so that he could watch Martha. Headphones in, John wasn’t paying any attention when he turned a corner and walked straight into Mrs. Jenivar, an old woman who lived a few streets over from him. She was unloading groceries from her car when she and John collided. 

“I’m so sorry Mrs. Jenivar! I was just listening to music and not paying attention. Here, let me help you with those bags.” John said quickly.

“Don’t let it worry you John.” She said with a smile.

“You know who I am?” John said wearily.

“Of course. I know everyone.”

John stood still for a second before asking, “So, should I take these inside?” 

“That would be lovely, thank you.”

John walked into the house with slight trepidation. There were a ton of rumors about Mrs. Jenivar being a witch, and while he was sensible enough not believe them, it was odd walking into her house. He almost expected to find something sinister. Looking around, he found nothing out of place. It looked just like a house that one would expect an elderly woman to live in. 

“Looking for something,” a voice said behind John. 

John startled and turned to find Mrs. Jenivar looking at him curiously. 

“You…” she started.

John put down his bag and started to walk out when a withered, bony hand closed around his wrist. Mrs. Jenivar was looking at him intently. Her veiny fingers began to trace small patterns on Jonn’s hand.

“A boy waits for you in St. Croix,” she said curiously. “He doesn’t know it, but his soul waits for yours.” 

“What are you talking about,” John half whispered. Stopping to help this woman was clearly a bad idea. 

She closed her eyes and hums. “He is in pain. He needs you, but it is not time yet I sense.” Her eyes opened and he received a piercing stare. “It seems that you both need to learn some patience for now.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I have to go…” John said, backing away. He turned quickly and rushed out the door. 

Mrs. Jenivar folded her hands slowly. 

“How I envy that love,” she said quietly before busying herself with her groceries.

Outside, John started once more on his walk home. He couldn’t shake an odd feeling in his chest and remembered how the feeling of hurt had settled there only that morning. 

“He is in pain…” John muttered to himself. “No, this is ridiculous. She was saying nonsense. Hurry up, you have to watch Martha today.”

John hurried home, Mrs. Jenivar’s words lingering in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading everyone! Here are the Spanish Translations from the Prologue.
> 
> ¿Estás bien señora?- Are you okay ma’am?
> 
> Si, gracias. No podía haber tomado nada. Yo no tengo nada.- Yes, thank you. He couldn’t have taken anything. I don’t have anything.
> 
> Usted tiene tiempos difíciles por delante de usted. Una gran grieta se acerca. Va a ser separado después de poco tiempo e izquierda para sobrevivir solos.- You have hard times ahead of you. A great rift is coming. You will be separated before long and left to survive alone.
> 
> Tú. Un niño espera en Carolina del Sur. Él no te conoce y que no lo conozco, pero te espera.-You. A boy waits for you in South Carolina. He doesn't know you and you don't know him, but he waits for you.
> 
> Qué- What


	2. 4 Years Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the almost 200 hits in a week! That's incredible, especially for my first work on this sight. Of course, a very special thank you to those who left reviews on the prologue. It means a lot that you took the time to share a compliment :) Also, the notes at the bottom are the notes from this chapter and the prologue, but I can't seem to get rid of the prologue ones, so just a heads up. Without any further ado: Enjoy the chapter!

Having never been on a plane before, Alex spent most of the flight peering out the window at the cloudy landscape. The sun bounced of the white surface cheerfully and Alex couldn’t help but smile. This was it. He was finally going to New York. Alex pulled out his worn journal that Peggy had found on the street all those years ago. It had become habit for him to write letters to her in the journal when he needed to talk to her. She had promised that she would write him, but no letters ever came. Seeing as Alex didn’t have her address, his letters went unanswered, but it was comforting to him anyway.

‘Dear Peggy,’ he began. ‘I told you once that I was going to make it. Well, here I am on a plane to New York for University. I know that I wrote to you that I had gotten a scholarship to Columbia, but I didn’t have a way off the island until last year. It was a bad year, but this is my silver lining.’

Just a year previous Alex had gotten an early acceptance to Columbia University with a full ride scholarship. Since the day Peggy left Alex had thrown his life into his writing, spending every waking moment trying to prove to her, and himself, that he was going to make it. He dedicated every waking second to his work and in the end it had landed him acceptances and partial scholarships at 3 Ivy League universities. In the end he chose Columbia because it would be easiest to get to New Jersey from there. Peggy may never have written, but Alex still missed his sister. 

Alex wasn’t expecting the full ride from Columbia. Just after his applications had been sent a hurricane had hit St. Croix that raged on for days leaving nothing but death and destruction in it’s wake. The town that he had lived in was almost entirely flattened, leaving the water stained ruins behind. St. Croix may not have been home, but the devastation was more immense than Alex could have ever imagined. In the midst of the clean up efforts Alex had written an article for the newspaper and had it published. It was a good article, but Alex had never thought that it would have had such huge impacts. The minute anyone read it, they found themselves weeping over the beautiful words and it’s meaning. Someone, who was still anonymous to Alex, had taken it upon themselves to publish it online. 

The response was the truly shocking part. His article went viral. Money came pouring in from around the world for his town to rebuild with. The people in the town were prouder of Alex than he had seen even Peggy before. An acceptance from all of the universities Alex had applied to came soon after and Columbia extended a full ride. Once the decision was made the town had pooled enough money to get Alex to New York. For a town and an island that Alex had once despised, he was indebted to the people that lived there. 

Alex continued his letter to Peggy, just talking about his feelings about leaving St. Croix and his hope to see her again soon. As he signed off ‘A. Hamilton’, his shoulder started to tingle. 

“Not again,” Alex grumbled.

Ever since Peggy had left 4 years previous, Alex would often get tingles on different parts of his body at the most random of times. He couldn’t explain it, but he also couldn’t get them to go away. Once it had actually become quite painful in his shoulder. It came on very suddenly, but intensely and was about 2 hours before it finally went away. Ever since that event, which was about 3 months ago, Alex felt shoulder tingles relatively often. 

Alex resigned himself to a slightly uncomfortable rest of flight and leaned back to try and sleep. He knew that the chaos of the day really only began once the plane landed…

 

“Welcome to LaGuardia,” said a pleasant voice as Alex was jolted awake by the plane touching down. He blinked the sleep away and stared out the window at his first glance at New York City. It was enormous. This single city was bigger than the entire island of St. Croix. 

He followed the crowd off the plane and read the signs towards baggage claim. He didn’t have very much stuff, so he brought everything he had. He saw no reason to leave things behind because with any luck, Alex would never again step foot in St. Croix. He collected his duffel bag and suitcase (full of books) and walked towards the exit. He had some money with him, but he knew that the cab ride to Columbia would be outrageously expensive, so he didn’t have high hopes for having much left over. He was right.

The ride to Columbia was long and mainly silent, but Alex hardly noticed. Under any other circumstance he wouldn’t have stopped talking for a second, but here he was too busy drinking in the sights of the city. It was a magnificent sight like nothing he had ever seen before. He had flown overnight, so it was a sunny morning with the golden sun still bathing the buildings in a warm glow. His first glimpse of Columbia was stunning.

Alex stepped out of the cab and his jaw dropped in wonder at the large green lawns and mixture of beautiful old buildings and chic modern ones. There were massive trees towering over the pathways and an abundance of students walking around carrying backpacks and suitcases. It was a tiny, green paradise in the middle of the urban jungle. 

“Hey, kid,” The cab driver called. “I still need to get paid.”

“Right, sorry,” Alex scrambled back to the cab to pay and grab his bags out of the trunk. The cab pulled back into traffic and Alex was left on the sidewalk with his things. He took a deep breath and forced a smile through his nerves. There were students everywhere in green shirts that proclaimed them ‘greeters’. 

“Hi there,” one girl said as she waltzed over. 

“Uh, hi,” Alex said. She was beautiful. 

“Angelica Schuyler,” she said extending her hand. “I’m paying back a friend by helping with move in for freshmen and you look you have minimal baggage, so I am going to help you.”

“Alexander Hamilton. Alex, I guess,” he stumbled slightly. “Thanks that would be great.” 

Angelica picked up his duffel bag and led him over to a table to collect his room and mail keys. 

“Hey Maria,” Angelica said, dropping the duffel. “This kid needs his keys.”

A girl at the table, Maria presumably, looked around Angelica at Alex and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Alexander Hamilton.”

She rummaged through a box for a minute. “Okay here you go. In this envelope is your room assignment, key, mail key, instructions for the wifi and information for your RA.”

Alex accepted the small envelope and said a quick, “thanks” before opening the envelope. It stated that he was in Furnald Hall room 423. 

Angelica peered over his shoulder and sighed in relief. “Thank god. Furnald is the closest hall. C’mon.”

She grabbed his duffel and waved goodbye to Maria and the traipsed across the lawn together.

“What year are you?” Alex asked curiously.

“Sophomore. Studying political science and social justice.”

“Oh, that’s cool. I’m gonna do political science too. And pre-law.”

Angelica looked skeptical. “That’s gonna be quite a course load.”

“Yeah probably.”

Angelica fell silent at that and Alex used his new key card to swipe into his building. They took the elevator to the 4th floor and stopped outside of 423. There was the faint sound of music playing inside as Alex pushed the door open. 

“Bonjour colocataire!” a voice said as Alex stepped in. He looked up to see a very tall man with a bright smile looking at him from the left side of the small room. He had enormously curly hair and beautiful eyes with perfect winged eyeliner and mascara that made his eyelashes go on for miles. 

“Bonjour, ça va?” Alex replied. 

The man looked surprised. “Bien, merci. Et toi? Je ne sais pas que tu parle en français. C’est magnifique! Je m’appelle Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette. La plupart des gens me appellent Lafayatte ou Laf.” 

“Oui, ma mère était français par le sang. J’ètudie le français et l’espagnol et je me suis enseigné l’anglais comme un enfant.” 

“Bien, je suis heureux d’avoir un autre orateur français ici.”

“So for those of us not fluent in French…” Angelica said.

“Ah, desolé mademoiselle.” Said Lafayette. “My name is Lafayette or Laf and evidently this is my roommate…?”

Alex realized that he had never introduced himself. “Alexander Hamilton. Alex.” 

They shook hands and Alex looked around the room. Laf had clearly claimed the left side of the room as his side was covered in stuff and the wall adorned with a large French flag and what Alex recognized as the genderfluid pride flag. Alex resolved to buy a bisexual pride flag for his side so that they would match. He put his bags on his bed as Laf started a conversation with Angelica. He tuned them out while he thought for a second. So this was home now.

“…I’m just saying I’ve never seen eyeliner that sharp before. How…?” he heard Angelica say.

“The tape trick. You put a little piece of tape here.” Laf motioned to an area next to his eye. “And it makes the edge perfect. My girlfriend in France taught me that a few years ago.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet. You must be her dream boyfriend. Are you still together?” Angelica asked.

“Partner. I am genderfluid.” Laf corrected. “Did you catch that?”

Laf turned to face Alex and he nodded in acknowledgement. He motioned towards the flag. “I figured that one out.”

Laf gave a small smirk, “Something about yourself that you would like to say? Not many people know that one. Also, they/them pronouns for me.”

Angelica nodded her assent as Alex said, “Oh, I’m bi. That’s not really a secret, but yeah. And got it, with the pronouns.”

“So is my sister. Bisexual, I mean. She’s a freshman this year too. I’ll have to introduce you guys.” Angelica added. 

“Sister?” Laf asked.

“Yeah I have two: Eliza and Peggy. Both are freshmen this year.”

Alex perked up at the name Peggy, but his hopes were quickly squashed. His Peggy was a year younger, she wouldn’t be in university yet. 

“Yeah that would be great,” Alex smiled anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to make friends. 

“Anyway, about that girlfriend…” Angelica said suggestively to Laf. “It must be hard to be separated like this. Unless she goes here too.”

“Ah, non.” Laf said, very sad all of a sudden. “She… passed away a few years ago.”

“I’m so sorry Lafayette, I shouldn’t have asked.” Angelica said immediately. 

Laf gave a sad smile, “It is okay, you didn’t know.”

There was a moment of silence before Laf plastered on a smile and said, “Let’s go meet our new neighbors!” 

“Well I’ll be at orientation tomorrow leading groups, so I’ll catch you guys then.” Angelica said as she started to back out.

“Yeah, we’ll see you then!” Alex said after her. 

Angelica smiled. “It’s a shame Liza is a lesbian, because you two would be great together.”

Alex quirked his brow and was about to say something, but Angelica was already gone.

“Wow. You should definitely get with her.” Laf said, also looking at the doorway.

Alex gave a little laugh, “Or you could. I don’t know I didn’t really feel anything for her. She’s gorgeous, but not for me.”

Laf smiled, “Oui, I agree. I usually go for guys anyway.”

“Alright, let’s meet the neighbors.” Alex proclaims.

Laf agreed and they left their tiny room. They walked to the room on the right and knocked. The door opened to reveal a small looking guy who smiled upon seeing them. 

“I saw you walk in earlier. Neighbors, right?”

“Oui! I am Lafayette. They/them pronouns. We are right over there.” Laf pointed to their door. 

“Aaron Burr. He/him pronouns.” Aaron sticks out his hand to shake Laf’s.

“Alex Hamilton.” Alex smiled.

Laf peered into the room behind him and sees only one bed. “No roommate?”

Burr sighed and said, “Nah, I’m transgender, so I was worried that whoever I was with would be weirded out. Better to just to be alone.”

“Well you fit right in with us. Bisexual and genderfluid,” Alex said pointing to himself and Laf. 

Burr laughed and Alex looked confused. 

“Sorry, it’s just that I saw a guy move in across the hall a little while ago who could not possibly be straight the way he ignored your friend.”

Alex’s confusion cleared as he realized that Burr meant his friend Angelica. He laughed also. 

“It seems we stick together,” Laf said. “Have you met them yet?”

“No he was carrying quite a bit of stuff and his whole family was there, so I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Well let’s go fix that.” Laf said already halfway to their door.

The names on the door proclaimed that Hercules and John lived in this room. Laf knocked obnoxiously. The door swung open quickly to reveal another small guy, this one covered in freckles. He was grinning and saying something to whoever was behind him. Alex actually stopped moving for a moment to take him in. He was adorable. The freckles, the curly hair pulled into a ponytail, the massive smile, he was absolutely perfect. Said person turned to face the door, slight shock showing in his face. 

“Hey!” he said cheerfully.

Alex was speechless still, but Laf spoke, “Bonjour mon ami! I am Laf, this is Alex and this is Aaron. We live across the hall.”

John eyes scanned across Laf and Aaron before stopping on Alex. He stopped breathing for a moment. 

“Hi,” Alex said after a minute.

“Hi,” John said softly back.

Laf grinned widely, watching back and forth between the two. 

“Je vois…” they said quietly. 

“Tu vois quoi?” John asked shifting to look at Laf.

“Another French speaker! Merci dieu! This is a fantastic day.” Laf was ecstatic. 

“Yeah, French, Spanish and English.” John responded. “John Laurens by the way.”

“Alex Hamilton.” Alex cursed inwardly at how shy his voice sounded. His eyes expressed some unreadable emotion as he stared at John intently. Laf gave a small laugh and watched Alex nearly drool. John blushed and looked away from Alex. 

“Alright what’s going on here,” a man said as he looked at the assortment of people at his door.

Laf looked up at him and stopped before doing a full body assessment. They blushed when they looked up and found the man at the door doing the same thing. The man wasn’t embarrassed at all and just smiled at Laf. 

“Hercules Mulligan. Herc, if you will. He/him pronouns.” 

Laf had a surprised look at him saying his pronouns and Herc said, “My best friend back home is genderfluid, so I find it’s best not to assume.”

Laf was having a field day and said, “Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette, but call me Lafayette or Laf. They/them pronouns.” 

“Aaron Burr, if anyone cares,” Burr said, looking amused at the other four.

Alex tore his gaze away from John to look at Lafayette. “Wait, Marquis de Lafayette?”

Laf suddenly got a bit shy as he replied, “Uh, yeah.”

“What does that mean?” John asked, looking at Alex.

“He’s like a Lord in France.” Aaron answered before Alex could. 

“Damn.” Herc said, looking surprised. 

“My parents passed, so I inherited the title a little early.” Laf said, rubbing his neck.

“Orphan immigrants. That’s the theme of our room.” Alex said, attempting to break the slight awkward air.

Laf gave a half smile. 

“Not an immigrant, but orphan here too.” Herc contributed.

“Same here,” said Aaron.

“Wow. Only one with a living parent. Just my dad, but that’s still only one parent among 5 people.” John said, shocked. 

“Well, that’s something we all have in common. Maybe our moms formed a heaven book club and pushed us towards each other.” Alex said. 

They all laughed at that and then realized that they were still all standing in a doorway. 

“So… lunch?” Laf asked.

They all agreed and grabbed their stuff from their respective rooms before heading down to lunch. It was very busy with parents and students everywhere, but they grabbed a few plates of food each and found a table in a back corner. They were only there about 10 minutes when a very irritated looking Angelica Schuyler happened upon them. 

“Bonjour Angelica!” Laf called when they saw her.

She narrowed in on them and stalked over, flopping into a seat next to Laf. “Hi.”

“…Something wrong?” Alex asked smiling at her obvious bad mood.

“So I’m leading this twerp to his room and I swear to god all he did was hit on me the entire way there. I even told him straight up that I wasn’t interested, but did it stop? No of course not. Anyway, I’m Angelica Schuyler, nice to meet you guys.”

John, Herc and Aaron introduced themselves. Just then Angelica groaned and slid down in her seat. A preppy boy was headed straight for their table, looking directly at Angelica. He approached and immediately started flirting again.

“Why if it isn’t the lovely Miss Schuyler? And… others.” He said looking around the table before refocusing on Angelica, sliding into the seat next to her.

“Charles Lee, go away.” She said.

“No I would much rather have lunch with you gorgeous. You said you didn’t have a boyfriend.”

Angelica picked her head up from the table as she heard Herc say, “Well she does now. Me. You got a problem with that?”

The smile on Charles’s face dropped as he took in Herc’s massive stature. Herc raised his eyebrows and Charles stood up, backing away. 

“Bye!” John said, at which Charles scampered. 

“I could have handled that myself you know,” Angelica said to Herc.

"I know," Herc replied.

"Thank you," she grumbled. 

“No problem.” Herc smiled.

“If he does that again I will beat his ass,” said Alex.

“Dude, you’re like this big,” John said squeezing his fingers together. “I’ll do it.”

Herc, Laf, Aaron and Angelica all laughed at this.

“What?” John said, looking affronted.

“You’re the same size.” Aaron laughed. “Chill with the fighting anyway.” 

John grumbled, but dropped it. They all finished their lunch in peace, Angelica entertaining them with stories of her first year. After they finished, Angelica departed for more move in duties and they others exited the building only to run into Charles Lee once more, with a group of preppies around him. They ignored them. Well, Laf, Aaron and Herc ignored him, John and Alex glared.

“Well if it isn’t Angelica’s little band of misfits. What kind of guy wears eyeliner anyway?” he sneered.

Laf rolled his eyes, “What an original insult. And I am not a guy. I am genderfluid, a person not a gender.”

“Yeah alright, fag.”

Alex saw red and immediately leapt toward Charles, but was yanked back by someone grabbing his arm. He turned to find Herc holding back him and John, who was also standing with his fists curled and eyes blazing. Charles looked scared and his band of preppies had backed off slightly. 

Herc glared and tensely said, “Say that again and I’ll let them go.” 

Charles looked he was going to retort, but one of his people grabbed his sleeve and he stepped back.

“Watch your back,” he spit at them before leading his group away. 

Herc released Alex and John. John grabbed his shoulder and tried to roll it a bit. Alex’s shoulder was tingling and he felt himself reach up to his as well. Laf looked at them both curiously.

“You guys really need to control your tempers.” Aaron said.

“Sometimes you gotta teach people a lesson.” Said Alex, still glaring after Charles.

They resumed walking and Alex was looking at John as John talked to Aaron. He wasn’t paying attention when he walked into someone and fell to the ground, less than gracefully. He got up immediately to help the other person up only to find himself looking and a very familiar face.

 

John Laurens was having a decidedly good day. He was finally moving into college today, away from his father and his conservative town and everything that he despised. It was a new day and he sure as hell wasn’t gonna blow it. 

The past 4 years had not been a breeze. Martha and Mary were still so young, only just 6 years old now, and James only 9, so John had spent a good portion of his time raising them. His father wasn’t around very often, although he was very doting on the younger 3 children when he was. John still couldn’t understand why his father couldn’t stand to be around him, but at some point he had stopped caring. He was no longer trying to please someone who didn’t care. 

John had spent his time in high school playing football, despite not liking it very much, and drawing. His art had become quite good in recent months, despite his shoulder injury about 3 months prior. 

The oddest thing that had happened over the past 4 years was that ever since the morning that John had woken up with his chest aching, it had never gone away. Feelings came and went and through the years he could remember a few days in which the pain was gone and replaced by such a light feeling that John had been on Cloud 9 all day long. No matter what he was feeling, John never told anyone about it. 

Despite his conservative town, John had managed to make a lot of friends who were also queer and they were instrumental in getting John through high school. When he got his acceptance to Columbia he would swear that no one had been prouder of him than them. Leaving them was hard, but her had a whole new adventure ahead of him now.

John’s father, sisters, and brother all came to New York to move him into his dorm and say goodbye as he started college. Currently, they were lugging all of his things across the campus and into the elevator in his new building: Furnald Hall. 

“Room 426,” John muttered to himself. 

The whole family approached his door and he could hear music coming from inside. John grabbed his keycard from registration and unlocked the door, pushing it open with his good shoulder. A man was already inside, pinning something to the wall.

‘Wow. I am going to look like a dwarf next to him,’ John thought as the man turned toward the door.

“Hey man! I’m Hercules Mulligan, but I go by Herc. He/him pronouns.” Herc said, holding out his hand.

John shook it and replied, “Hey! John Laurens. He/Him pronouns as well.”

Herc nodded. “Can’t just assume with the pronouns. My friend back home is a they/them.”

John’s family looked very confused. John, of course, knew exactly what Herc was talking about. Growing up gay in a very conservative southern town meant that people like him banded together underground and he had met several they/them people through various friends that way. 

“Uh, dad you can just set down that duffel on the bed.” John said, trying to make it less awkward. “This is my family. My dad, sisters Martha and Mary, and my brother James.”

Herc smiled at them. “It’s nice to meet you all.”

“Are your parents still here?” John’s father, Henry, said somewhat stiffly.

“No sir. My parents have been dead for quite a while.”

Henry Laurens said nothing to this admission and John wanted nothing more than to get him out of there. 

“Well, I guess this is it.”

His father nodded and Martha and Mary accosted John. He held them both close in a hug before pulling away and smiling.

“Hey, I’ll see you at Thanksgiving!” John said. Martha and Mary were only 6, so 2 months was an insurmountable amount of time in which they wouldn’t have John, but the nodded anyway. Martha and Mary now clinging to each other, John moved to hug James. James was 9 and understood that he was now the oldest and had to be strong, but that didn’t stop him from burying his head in John’s neck. John felt something wet hit his skin.

“Hey now, it’s gonna be fine. You’re the oldest now and you’re gonna do great.” He whispered to James.

“But what if-“

John cut him off. “Nope, y’all’re gonna be great.” His southern drawl came out a lot on that phrase and James smiled. John released him and turned to his father. Henry stuck out his hand to shake and John took it quietly. 

“Do not embarrass me during your time here. This family has a reputation to uphold.” Henry said.

John saw the underlying threat in the phrase and nodded once. His father gave him a final stern look before turning to leave. Martha and Mary were crying as they walked out, but James held their hands and looked back at John. John smiled and James lifted his chin and walked out. John shut the door and turned back to Herc. 

“I’m sorry about my dad. He’s not the most pleasant person in the world.”

Herc shrugged. “I’m not the one that’s gotta deal with him all the time.”

“Yeah…” John trailed off.

They fell into a comfortable silence as John unpacked and Herc finished putting things up on the walls. John stepped back a moment to look at the walls to see Herc’s wall covered with various posters; 2 bulletin boards with pictures of clothes, sketches and pieces of fabric; and a small pansexual pride flag. John motioned to the flag when Herc caught him looking. 

“My friend back home gave me that before I came here.” Herc smiled. “And I’m a fashion design major, so the boards are an easier way to organize my thoughts.”

“I feel like I should get one to match.”

Herc raised an eyebrow.

“The flag I mean. I’m gay,” John responded to the unasked question. 

Herc nods and John goes back to his unpacking as Herc goes back to finishing his 2nd bulletin board. A knock sounds at the door and John goes to answer it as Herc struggles to pin a piece of leather to the board. John opens the door while saying, “Herc you are stronger than the leather I promise.”

Herc flicked off John and he laughed, turning to the open door to find 3 people staring at him.

“Hey!” John said cheerfully, observing the people standing in front of him. He vaguely heard the tall one say something, but he was already enraptured with the person on the end. He was short, with silky black hair pulled into a bun, and a look in his eyes that John had never seen before. It was a look of intelligence, but also of fire, like he was ready for anything. 

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” John said back. 

“Je vois…” someone said. 

John automatically replied, “Tu vois quoi?”

He glanced over to see the tall one grinning from ear to ear. 

“Another French speaker! Merci dieu! This is a fantastic day.”

“Yeah, French, Spanish and English,” he said, turning back to the one he liked so much. “John Laurens, by the way.”

“Alex Hamilton,” he said almost shyly.

John just watched him and only when the tall French speaker laughed did he realize that he was staring. He looked away, blushing. 

“Alright what’s going on here?” Herc had clearly figured out how to pin the leather to his board. 

John looked at Herc and then back to Alex and the others at the door, noticing how the tall French speaker was looking at Herc hungrily. John looked back at Herc to find him with the same look. Herc smiled and said, “Hercules Mulligan. Herc, if you will. He/him pronouns.”

The tall one looked surprised and Herc clarified, “My best friend back home is genderfluid, so I find it’s best not to assume.” 

The tall one, still slightly stunned looking, replied, “Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette, but call me Lafayette or Laf. They/them pronouns.” 

That would explain his surprise and amazement at Herc’s pronouncement. 

“Aaron Burr, if anyone cares,” the other person at the door said, looking around at all of them. 

Alex’s eyebrows wrinkled and he turned away from John to look at Laf. 

“Wait, Marquis de Lafayette?”

Laf suddenly looked shy and replied, “Uh, yeah.”

“What does that mean?” John asked Alex. 

“He’s like a Lord in France,” Aaron answered before Alex could. 

“Damn.” He heard Herc say. 

“My parents passed, so I inherited the title a little early.” Laf said, rubbing his neck.

“Orphan immigrants. That’s the theme of our room.” Alex said, smiling at Laf.

“Not an immigrant, but orphan here too.” Herc contributed.

“Same here,” said Aaron.

John was the one who looked surprised now, realizing that he was the one with a living parent, even as shitty as said parent was. “Wow. Only one with a living parent. Just my dad, but that’s still only one parent among 5 people.”

“Well, that’s something we all have in common. Maybe our moms formed a heaven book club and pushed us towards each other.” Alex said, smiling at John. 

They all laughed and Laf said, “So… lunch?” 

They all went to grab lunch, which was for the most part a pleasant affair. John met Angelica Schuyler and her stalker. He would swear that Laf looked jealous for a moment when Herc said that he was her boyfriend. John smiled inwardly and looked over at Alex. Alex was already looking at him, but quickly looked away once he’d been caught. He grinned and began paying attention to the conversation in time to say, “Bye!” to Charles Lee. 

“I could have handled that myself you know,” Angelica said to Herc.

"I know," Herc replied.

"Thank you," she grumbled.

“No problem.” Herc smiled.

“If he does that again I will beat his ass,” said Alex.

“Dude, you’re like this big,” John said, almost laughing. Alex was so small; he didn’t look like he could beat up anything. “I’ll do it.”

The others laughed and John was slightly offended, “What?” 

“You’re the same size.” Aaron laughed. “Chill with the fighting anyway.” 

John grumbled, but dropped it. They all finished their lunch in peace, Angelica entertaining them with stories of her first year. After they finished, Angelica departed for more move in duties and they others exited the building only to run into Charles Lee once more, with a group of preppies around him. They ignored them. Well, Laf, Aaron and Herc ignored him, John and Alex glared.

“Well if it isn’t Angelica’s little band of misfits. What kind of guy wears eyeliner anyway?” Charles sneered.

Laf rolled his eyes, “What an original insult. And I am not a guy. I am genderfluid, a person not a gender.”

“Yeah alright, fag.”

John couldn’t remember what he thought after that, but he immediately leapt towards Lee. He was pulled back roughly and looked up to see Herc holding onto his arm. He was also holding Alex, John noticed. He was still small, but he looked incredibly alive, eyes blazing with the fire inside them. John turned back to Lee as Herc said, “Say that again and I’ll let them go.”

Charles looked he was going to retort, but one of his people grabbed his sleeve and he stepped back.

“Watch your back,” he spit at them before leading his group away. 

Herc released Alex and John. John grabbed his shoulder and tried to roll it a bit. His old injury got agitated sometimes when he had too much tension in it. He saw Alex also reach for his shoulder and wondered if he had gotten hurt. Laf looked at them both curiously.

“You guys really need to control your tempers.” Aaron said.

“Sometimes you gotta teach people a lesson.” Said Alex, still glaring after Charles. John felt himself agree with Alex, but said nothing. 

They resumed walking and John began talking to Aaron about classes. He heard a noise to the other side and turned to see Alex sprawled out on the ground with a girl on the ground next to him. John gave a tiny laugh seeing that Alex had been distracted enough to run into someone. Alex looked embarrassed and got up, offering a hand to the girl. He froze when he saw her face and all John could think was, ‘Fuck. There goes my shot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And of course the translations (French this time): 
> 
> Bonjour colocataire!- Hello roommate!
> 
> Bonjour, ça va?- Hello, how are you?
> 
> Bien, merci. Et toi? Je ne sais pas que tu parle en français. C’est magnifique! Je m’appelle Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette. La plupart des gens me appellent Lafayatte ou Laf.- Good, thank you. And you? I did not know that you speak French. This is magnificent! My name is Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette. Most people call me Lafayette or Laf. 
> 
> Oui, ma mère était français par le sang. J’ètudie le français et l’espagnol et je me suis enseigné l’anglais comme un enfant- Yes, my mother was French by blood. I learned French and Spanish and taught myself English as a child. 
> 
> Bien, je suis heureux d’avoir un autre orateur français ici.- Well I am glad to have another French speaker here.
> 
> Je vois- I see
> 
> Tu vois quoi?- You see what?
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter, more to come next week!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading everyone! Here are the Spanish Translations from the Prologue.
> 
> ¿Estás bien señora?- Are you okay ma’am?
> 
> Si, gracias. No podía haber tomado nada. Yo no tengo nada.- Yes, thank you. He couldn’t have taken anything. I don’t have anything.
> 
> Usted tiene tiempos difíciles por delante de usted. Una gran grieta se acerca. Va a ser separado después de poco tiempo e izquierda para sobrevivir solos.- You have hard times ahead of you. A great rift is coming. You will be separated before long and left to survive alone. 
> 
> Tú. Un niño espera en Carolina del Sur. Él no te conoce y que no lo conozco, pero te espera.-You. A boy waits for you in South Carolina. He doesn't know you and you don't know him, but he waits for you. 
> 
> Qué- What


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